


I Ache For you

by call_it_a_miracle



Series: When The Stars Align [1]
Category: Ao no Exorcist | Blue Exorcist
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Compliant Until Chapter 110 Of The Manga, Graphic Descriptions of Needles, M/M, Manga Spoilers, Renzou Is A Great Spy, Soft Boys Fall In Love In Ridiculous Circumstances, The Dominus Liminis Is A Big Maze, Yukio Is Confused, lots of feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-24
Updated: 2019-07-24
Packaged: 2020-07-17 06:15:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19947991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/call_it_a_miracle/pseuds/call_it_a_miracle
Summary: “You know, it kinda gets easier once you stop lying to yourself.”





	1. Chapter 1

The feeling was like a drug, pumping adrenaline through his veins and making him feel invincible. Everything he’d craved – power, recognition, individuality, autonomy – was given to him on a silver plate. Now, consequences be damned, he can’t bring himself to question the Illuminati’s intentions. In fact, Yukio hasn’t allowed himself to think of anything that isn’t the twin guns he’s currently holding. They’re lighter than he’d expected when he first laid eyes on them, yet the energy they release every time he pulls the trigger is enough to assure him of their potential.

He sighs, rising his recently healed left arm and aims, effortlessly hitting his target. The candle ignites in black flames, illuminating the otherwise dimly lit room with an ominous shine. He smirks and blows gently on the nozzle to extinguish the small licks of flame that clung to the metal.

Suddenly the flames get bigger, reaching the high ceiling and dispersing along the white metal walls. A slight jingling sound pulls Yukio’s stoic form to the side as he eyes the door suspiciously.

“Ah, black flames. So pretty, ain’t they?” Renzõ says, his eyes never leaving the wild display a few feet from them. His eyes flicker to Yukio’s, and when he gets no response he sighs, snapping his fingers. The flames disappear, returning its cold blue-ish dim glow to the room. “Boss says training time is over. Let’s go grab some dinner.”

With robotic movements, Yukio stores the guns back inside his newly-acquired holsters sitting snug under his white lab coat. He doesn’t even grace Renzõ with any form of acknowledgement as he heads to the base’s cafeteria. Renzõ follows close behind him, his k’rik jingling lightly on his back.

Once at the cafeteria Yukio joined the shortest queue and patiently waited for whatever food he’d get that day. Renzõ did just the same, knowing he couldn’t leave the guy’s side whilst on the ship. Once they got their food, they moved to take a seat on the table they’d come to claim as theirs, hidden in the back corner and away from the enthusiastic chatter of scientists and what-not.

Renzõ eyed Yukio as he took a generous bite of what looks to be some weird meat concoction. “Tell me, what exactly is your plan?”

Yukio’s blue-green eyes meet his brown ones, and a few seconds go by before the younger one answers. “You don’t need to know.”

More silence. “…you don’t have a plan?”

“What difference does it make, having a plan or not?”

Renzõ drops his fork, visibly cringing at the loud sound of metal colliding against the ceramic plate, and desperately searches Yukio’s stoic face. “It makes all the difference!” He waits a few seconds, eyeing the kid before continuing. “Though I guess I don’t have a plan either.”

That earns him a look. “ _You_ don’t have a plan?”

“Nope!” he picks up his fork and stabs his food enthusiastically before shoving it into his mouth. He takes his time chewing and swallowing. “I thought that much was obvious.”

“…but you’re a spy.”

“Indeed. I’ve got something for every possibility in the near future. Other than that, nothing.”

Yukio finishes chewing another polite mouthful. “Why?”

Renzõ smirks, his eyes traveling down to the almost-empty plate. “Don’t think I’ll make it that far, to be honest.” He takes the last mouthful into his mouth before pointing at Yukio with the silver fork. “You, on the other hand, you’re gonna need a plan for when things go sideways because the big guys won’t let you die so easily.”

With that, the conversation ends.

It’s only brought up again the next day. Yukio undergoes his daily check on his eye, confirming that Satan is still using it as a window to view Assiah. It makes him feel incredibly uncomfortable, wanting nothing more than to rip his eyeball out, but he knows that wouldn’t solve the issue. He doesn’t realize he’s said this out loud until Renzõ chuckles lightly next to him as they walk back to one of the base’s lounges – tucked away in a deep corner of the aircraft in a way that not many of its occupants seem to know about its existence.

“Yeah, I guess I know what you mean. When I was younger, I would sneak into my dad’s office and steal vials of holy water to rub on my arms. Kinda felt like bugs were crawling under my skin.” He visibly shivers at this, his k’rik jingling behind him. “But as my training progressed, I started to accept Yamantaka-kun as part of myself.”

“Guess we got that in common then. The training, I mean.” Yukio says, his voice soft and distant.

“But it’s more than that, isn’t it? I mean, we were both born with a responsibility we never asked for, stupid expectations from our families… we’re very much alike, you and me.”

Yukio huffs. “Excuse me, I’m not nearly as careless and cowardly as you are.”

“Says the kid who ran to the Illuminati without a plan instead of facing reality.”

With the blink of an eye, Renzõ finds himself pinned to the white wall of the empty hallway. His k’rik digs painfully into his back, and Yukio’s forearm forces him to meet the guy’s scary eyes. That look would’ve shaken him to his very core and set him running as far away as possible before, but not anymore. Now, he squares up, ignores the throbbing pain and meets his ex-teacher’s snarl with one of his own.

“I am not running away. I did what you said; I came here to get some **advice** and so far, I’ve gotten more than what I could’ve found if I were to stay with The Order.”

Renzõ’s snarl grew bigger. “Remember what else I told you before?”

Yukio’s mind goes back to his first day in the Dominus Liminis. After Lucifer gave him a tour around the aircraft and him and Renzõ were walking back to Yukio’s new room. Back then, Yukio still believed in the naïve, playful character Renzõ liked to play for everyone. He thought the guy moved around foolishly, not completely aware of what he was getting himself into.

The spy had been appointed as Yukio’s guard as soon as they boarded the aircraft. He happily agreed, content to stay out of everyone’s way, even though he was more than aware of the fact that the higher ups wouldn’t take their eyes off them. They also gave them free roaming around the place, and Yukio was determined to use to its fullest.

Which is why he was so annoyed when Renzõ insisted on sharing ‘a secret’. Really, he had no time for child play, he was there on a _mission._ But then the words left the pink haired boy’s mouth in a haunting whisper.

“Everything is a lie.”

It should’ve been obvious to Yukio. There was no way an organization like the Illuminati would just outright share all their secrets with someone who just a few hours before had been considered an enemy. But thinking more about it, it meant that he couldn’t trust everything they told him, which put him back in the same place he was before, kneeling in cold, wet pavement with a gun to his temple.

He refused to let this drag him down though. No, he was here to find more information on himself, and that was exactly what he was going to do. He agreed to take part in as many tests as they wanted, and he listened carefully to every word that left Lucifer’s mouth.

He presses the spy harder against the cold metal wall. “I’m very aware of that, thank you very much. But I don’t care, I’m getting stronger every day. Besides, there’s no turning back now, you said so yourself, too.”

With that he gives Renzõ one last shove before letting go. Renzõ shifts his shoulders, trying unsuccessfully to relieve himself of the sharp pain, and quickly resumes his position behind the taller teen.

“You know, it kinda gets easier once you stop lying to yourself.”

After that they spend the rest of the day sitting in the lounge room, reading through files Yukio managed to get his hands on. He hadn’t expected Lucifer to hand them over so fast, but he really didn’t want to think much of it. They weren’t really all that useful, just bits and pieces of information on The Chosen Ones. Yukio seemed particularly invested in Tõdõ’s file, which wasn’t much of a surprise to Renzõ. Really, that guy is so stuck in the past no wonder he’s having a hard time moving forward.

“Shima?” Yukio’s voice brings him back to the lounge room.

“Don’t call me that. Lucifer-sama and the others insist on calling me that, but please, not you too.”

Yukio sighs, somewhat understanding the change in identity. “Fine. Renzõ, do you know what the objective is with these Chosen Ones? All I’ve found is reports on different test results.”

The pink haired boy looks around absentmindedly, making sure no one is around before standing up from his place on the other side of the small room and taking a seat on the surprisingly comfortable sofa right next to Yukio. He takes one of the papers he’s holding, which displays a before and after picture of Tõdõ’s transformation.

“They don’t tell me much, not directly. But you’re lucky I’m a great spy.” He makes sure to throw Yukio a playful smirk and a wink, discretely surrounding them with a faint black flame before continuing. “From what I’ve gathered, Lucifer is making them into weapons. By achieving a perfect symbiosis between demon and human, the combined power of their souls releases an attack much stronger than the demon would on its own. Kind of like with the Blue flames. Being a combination of Assiah and Gehenna makes them much more effective on either side.”

Yukio eyes the black flame circle surrounding them, knowing that Renzõ is using it to make sure no one overhears their conversation. He’s surprised to find it incredibly reassuring – he’d never thought he’d ever get to trust a fucking spy as much as he’s allowing himself to trust Renzõ, no matter how incredibly limited that trust is being kept.

“So, the Illuminati is basically making the perfect weapons. Forcing a symbiosis between strong human souls and demons with regenerative abilities?”

“Exactly. The Order thought they were doing this as an effort to improve the health serums Lucifer-sama and the other demon kings use, but that’s just a convenient side effect for the Illuminati. Between you and me, the demon kings’ vessels are no longer a problem.” As he talks, Renzõ slowly leans closer to Yukio until his knee brushes softly against the taller teen.

Yukio doesn’t bother with acknowledging this, instead keeping his eyes glued to the papers dispersed on his lap. “What do you mean?”

“The only problem they had with the clones was the fact that their egos aren’t compatible with the bodies. Cut the head off and you’ve got a perfect new vessel ready for the taking.”

Yukio frowned, eyes going wide in disgust. “So, they’re just replacing their bodies?!”

“Lucifer-sama gets a new body transplant almost every week. The serum helps the clone cells regenerate at a faster pace, letting the bodies hold up for longer than just a few days at a time. They’re still doing experiments on the Chosen Ones to investigate the serum, but it’s no longer top priority.”

“Huh.” It’s all Yukio can say, returning his gaze to Tõdõ’s files. 

He still doesn’t understand the man. If he was so desperate about becoming his own person, why take the power away from his family and willingly give it to the Illuminati? At least his family saw him as a person, now he turns himself into a weapon? Just another object to be used and experimented on? It doesn’t make sense. 

No, that man is onto something. 

“Why are you so interested in this? It’s not _that_ complicated, really. The Illuminati wants equity, same opportunities for humans and demons alike without any grey areas where people like you and me can thrive in.”

Yukio huffs. “Don’t group me up with you.”

“Jeez, how long are you gonna keep ignoring the obvious, huh?”

With a swift movement, Yukio grips a handful of Renzõ’s white shirt threateningly. “Don’t. Patronize. Me.” He growls, feeling the sudden impulse to punch the spy squared in the face. Renzõ just looks at him, completely unamused but ready to defend himself. Yukio manages to control himself, though, and after a few agonizing seconds he lets go.

“I’m sorry, I really didn’t mean to piss you off.” Renzõ says, adjusting his uniform.

“Whatever. I’m too tired for this shit.” The taller teen says, standing up and shuffling back to the east wing of the ship. Renzõ follows silently behind him, deciding to leave matters as they are. Yukio is a smart kid, he can figure it out on his own. He just needs a tiny little push in the right direction – or the wrong one, depending on how things turn out.

That night, Yukio lies awake on the uncomfortably comfortable bed. His eyes are closed tightly, too afraid to open his left eye and letting Satan ‘free’ without his eyepatch or the protective tape on. The darkness is oddly comforting, nothing like it used to be when he was a little kid. Before, he could feel the demons creeping in the dark, attracted to him like moths to light. Now, he’s lived among them for so long he’s started to believe he belongs right there with them.

This spiral of self-hate he’s lived with through most of his life is all he’s ever known, and God knows he doesn’t deal well with change. When his father died, he’d tried so hard to keep things as ordinary as possible, but of course it didn’t work. Eventually all he’d worked hard for collapsed right in front of him and he was left exposed and incredibly afraid. He’d relied on the only thing he knew, his guns and his work, but it wasn’t enough. It never is.

And then he’d look at how fast _he_ adapted – it was as if God had personally spat on his face, telling him he would never be as **good** as _him_. It angered him, and it fed into that dark self-hate, cultivating it until it turned him into a _monster_.

Yukio Okumura is now a worse monster than the _things_ that would stalk him at night as a child. There’s no salvation for someone like him.

Why would he even consider a grey area when the dark is everything he’s ever known?

Renzõ had witnessed in person just how strong of a grip the dark had on Yukio, and he knew it would take something of equal magnitude to pull him out.

Honestly, the spy doesn’t even know why he’s bothering so much. His original plan – if it could even be called that – had been to just go off on his own, make sure he’s complied to both sides as to not get chased down right away, and lay low until The Fated Day came. Hell, he’d even contemplated going back home briefly if only to say goodbye, maybe even meet his first nephew.

But that was back when he first got himself into this mess, when he’d been convinced that all that mattered was his own survival – but not anymore. And it’s all that damn four eyes’ fault.

Something about that guy resonated in him ever since he first met him, and a voice inside his head had screamed at him to not let him go. Even Yamantaka didn’t mind his presence, and that said a lot. But he’d rather not think about it right now.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maybe there's hope.

Two days later they both find themselves with a lot of free time.

“Are you sure there aren’t any more tests they need to run?” Yukio asked, leaning against the cold metal wall of the hallway.

“Nope. They want you to rest for now. I’m sure they’re preparing more scary needle things to poke you with soon enough. But not today.” The taller teen shoots him a glare. Renzõ takes it, shrugging. “Sooooo what do you want to do today?”

Yukio sighs. “I’m sure I can just go ask your boss if I can have more files.”

“Or,” Renzõ smiles softly, leaning his head back on the metal wall he’s leaning against across from the other teen. “We could just chill somewhere. There’s a room far back with a sick view of the sky.”

The dark-haired boy frowns at him, crossing his arms over his chest.

It’s Renzõ’s turn to sigh. “Come on! I’m tired of looking through useless files. We can just relax somewhere and talk or some shit. I actually have some fun spy stories I’ve been dying to share with someone.”

Truth be told, he’d given it some thought – and by some thought he meant 10 minutes of boredom that turned into a ‘what if’ type of thing, which then got him thinking of the overall situation, _which then_ drowned him with an overwhelming sense of urgency to _talk_.

Renzõ can practically see the protest ready to leave the other boy’s mouth so he shoots him a _look_. Something that hopefully says something along the lines of ‘by talk I mean literally talk about everything I know about, well, _everything_ ’. Thankfully, Yukio seems to pick up on this.

“Fine. Lead the way.”

They walk down the Dominus Liminis, ignoring the several stares they get from other Illuminati members. It makes them both uncomfortable, knowing that they’re celebrities in there. Most Illuminati members haven’t even seen Lucifer in person, let alone have a full-on conversation with him, yet they believe in his outrageous cause; it’s creepy as Hell.

Renzõ can’t help but sigh in relief once they reach the empty room. At this time of day, most members are busy working on their assignments so it’s no surprise for the spy, though he can’t help but feel a little suspicious. He closes his eyes briefly, instructing Yamantaka to create another protective barrier. It’s incredibly convenient to have a high level familiar capable of dampening the Illuminati’s thorough surveillance systems.

Once it’s all set, he proceeds to take a seat on the floor next to Yukio, right in front of a gigantic window. The sky outside is bright blue with a few white fluffy clouds sprinkled here and there. They sit in silence for a few seconds, content to just admire the view.

“You brought me here to talk,” Yukio says, his voice soft but demanding. “So, talk.”

Renzõ chuckles. “What do you want me to tell you? You already have a pretty good idea of what’s been going on with the Order since the beginning.”

“I don’t give a shit about The Order. I just want to know why I was born.”

“Don’t we all?”

Yukio shoots the pink-haired boy the nastiest glare he can manage with just one eye. It seems to work, yet again, as the boy takes a deep breath. His eyes remain glued to the window, watching as the clouds moved slowly, hypnotically, outside.

“I don’t know all of it – only bits and pieces I managed to get both from The Order and The Illuminati. They wanted to execute your mother the moment they found out she was pregnant with Satan’s kids, but Mephisto and Fujimoto managed to convince them to let her live. When Lucifer found out, he made some sort of deal with Samael. My assumption is that it was something between the lines of ‘you get one, I get the other’ kind of thing.”

Yukio reached up to ghost a hand over his eye patch. “So, they knew about my eye since the beginning.”

“All those tests they’ve been doing on you? It’s all for show. I mean, I guess, they wanted to establish just how far your mashou went, but they already knew most of it. Now, I’d say they know pretty much everything – and before you ask, no, I don’t know what that _everything_ is. All I know is that what they’ve told you so far is only partially true. There’s more to you just being a human with one mother of a temptaint.”

“They said possession by Satan was out of the question for me. They want Satan to possess my brother.”

“Yeah, pretty much. When I asked you about which side you were on, well, it was a tricky question. It seems like both Lucifer and Samael share the same plan, bringing Satan topside and letting him decide whatever is going to happen with Assiah. Samael seems pretty confident in his stance, and knowing he’s the King of Time, I’m sure he already has a general idea of what’s going to happen. If Lucifer is light, Samael is the shadows. He’s got so many pawns moving behind the scenes, even if they don’t know they’re doing it, and I’m mostly sure one of those is Lucifer himself.”

That grabs Yukio’s full attention. “What makes you think that?”

Renzõ turns to him, a thoughtful frown knitting his eyebrows together. “Me kidnapping Kamiki? Samael – _Mephisto_ told me I’d have to do it way before I even got instructions from Lucifer-sama. He had me act infatuated with her, get her to be so distant from me she’d never suspect anything, since she’d already had contact with the Illuminati before. He said it’d be useful later. And sure enough four months later I’m getting instructions to make a big show of kidnapping her, allowing you all to follow me. No one but Lucifer-sama and a few of his high-ranking commanders knew about it. Most still think I’m some brainless, reckless guy, which is just genius. No one here trusts me, as they do you by proxy.”

Yukio mirrors his frown, ignoring how his glasses slide down his nose. “But they let us enjoy free roaming through the ship?”

“Because Lucifer-sama personally gave the instruction to let us be.” Renzõ desperately grips Yukio’s shoulder, making the teen’s blue-green eyes meet his, wide and panicked. “Don’t you get it? They already know; every breath we take, every thought that goes through our heads – they know. This? Us talking right now? They may not be able to hear us, but I know they both know _what_ we’re talking about.”

“It can’t be that bad, they’re not omnipotent.” Yukio huffs, turning his gaze back to the clouds.

“Maybe not, but they’re the closest thing there is to it here in Assiah.”

There’s a brief pause, both of them following the soft movements of clouds gracing by the slow-moving ship. Renzõ clenched his fists by his sides, thinking his next words very carefully.

“It’s not about _why_ you were born, you know?” he said, feeling the other’s eyes on him. “No one knows why they were born. You’re getting yourself stuck in the past, trying to make sense of something way too complicated to be either black _or_ white.”

Yukio sighs, long and hard. The amount of times Renzõ has tried to call him out for this has been too damn much and he’s finally reached his limit. “What’s that supposed to mean? Shiro Fujimoto wasn’t even human; he didn’t keep us alive because of some sort of sentimental guilt! And he wasn’t the type to sacrifice himself for a new fancy weapon for The Order. No, he had a real reason for it. I _need_ to know why _he-_ ”

“Don’t you think that maybe, just maybe, he too had absolutely no idea of what he was doing?”

“What?!”

“If you really want to know, clone or not, that dude clearly had some sense of humanity in him. That fact alone is what got him out of Asylum and let him climb all the way to the top.” He paused, clenching his fists. “And he clearly did care about you and your brother, more than you two could ever know.”

Renzõ meets those blue-green eyes again. This time, he feels himself lean forward until there’s just a few inches between them. “Whatever it is, it doesn’t matter. What matters is that you’re here, now, and you can do literally whatever you want with everything we’ve just talked about. It’s finally _your_ choice. And who knows, maybe your stupid little choice could really change things for the good, or it could get us killed. Whatever it is, you can’t expect yourself to move forward without coming to terms with your past. And that means admitting that whatever happened was not your fault and there’s nothing you can do to change it.”

“You _just_ said they know every-”

“Yeah, they _know_. But they can’t really make you do anything, not anymore, because now _you_ know.”

After that they spend the rest of the afternoon in a comfortable silence. The space between them slowly got smaller and smaller until their knees were brushing softly. None of them would openly admit it, but they really appreciated the silent company. Everything is so overwhelming; it’s good to know they’re not completely alone.

The bright blue sky is turning a light shade of pink when Renzõ yawns, stretching his stiff arms. “Let’s go get some dinner, then we can get a well-deserved night sleep, how’s that sound?”

Yukio nods distantly. The pink-haired boy stands up, flinching as his legs scream in protest to the sudden movement. Then he leans down and extends a hand to Yukio who immediately takes it, letting himself be pulled up. After some stretching, they head out to the overly crowded cafeteria.

As if fate had called it, they enjoyed a nice, silent meal. There are the usual stares, the awkward words spoken behind their backs, but somehow, it’s easy to ignore them. Still, this manages to be the most relaxing meal they’ve shared, exchanging looks every now and then for no particular reason.

That follows with the nicest, most peaceful night sleep Yukio’s had in a very long time. Not even the constant chill of Satan’s presence manages to break through his thin veil of peace.

Renzõ on the other hand had a rather fitful sleep.

He couldn’t get his own words out of his head, specially that little speech of Yukio not being at fault for his past. The pink-haired boy wasn’t good at giving advice, ever, but _that_ – he spoke from experience.

Back when he was very young, around 5 years old, he’d been forced to take Yamantaka in. His older brother, Takezõ, had been originally chosen as Yamantaka’s master but when he died, Yamantaka was set free to choose another man of the Shima family. To everyone’s surprise, the demon chose the then new-born son as his new master. They managed to keep Yamantaka sealed until Renzõ was old enough to understand what a demon was. Since then, he was forced to train day and night to keep up with the stupid ancient contract the Shima family had signed with Yamantaka centuries before.

It wasn’t his fault, it was something forced onto him, and he hated his family for that. They always pressured him to be an exact copy of Takezõ, ‘the perfect Shima man’ or some shit like that. All he ever wanted was to be a normal kid, like Bon and Koneko.

Of course, _they_ knew everything. And when the opportunity to ‘escape’ the pressure and stress of it all presented itself, he accepted right away.

He doesn’t regret it, though. If anything, life as a spy has saved him from a lot. It takes so much of his mental energy he’s too stunned to deal with Yamataka. Yes, he’s learned to accept him by now, but sometimes the constant pull on his soul becomes too _overwhelming_ for him.

Now, he can’t help but question himself. What if there’s a tiny chance he actually survives all this? What’s he gonna do then?

The obvious answer would be to save what little he’s got left. His friends, his family. Hell, he would _really_ like to meet his nephew, maybe hug his parents again, and just now he remembers he’s never been to a cinema before, and he’s been dying to go with his friends.

Maybe there’s hope. Maybe…

Then Yukio’s green-blue eyes paint the backs of his eyelids. Their soft yet incredibly strong glare and the _power_ they hold; the soul that hides behind them being the most intriguing soul Renzõ has ever had the privilege to meet. Since he was told about the kid exorcist, he’d been curious, and actually meeting the guy on that first day of cram school was truly something. He’d been drawn to him from the very start, but never really bothered to talk to him, limiting himself to _observe_ him from afar as he was supposed to do.

Now it’s been more than a week since he’s had the opportunity to actually hold a conversation with the guy and he thinks he might be addicted. There’s just something so broken about the two of them that just _fits,_ like pieces of a broken mirror. It’s weird, and he really doesn’t want to go through the trouble of thinking too much about it but what else is he supposed to do? Sleep?

**He should.**

With a long, deep sigh he starts muttering the prayer. Yamantaka’s flame surrounds him and in seconds he’s falling into a deep sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “So, how are we going to do this?”

“Are you immune to black flames too? Because of your familiar?” Yukio asks, taking in a polite mouthful of fruit salad. It’s the next day, and they’re sitting in their usual table having a calm breakfast. Renzõ looked up from his sandwich, coughing lightly.

“Not really? I mean it can’t actually kill me, but it takes an awful lot of energy from my soul.” He says, looking across the table at the other teen. The eye patch lays snuggly across his face, allowing the pink haired boy to stare at only one cursed blue-green eye.

“But you can control how much it takes, right? It must be stated in your contract, otherwise Yamantaka would hold too much power over you.”

A shiver runs down Renzõ’s spine as he feels Yamantaka’s constant presence pulse inside his chest.

“Y-yeah, I can kind of control it – m-most of the time, I guess.”

Yukio frowns at him. “You don’t have to answer my questions if you don’t want to.”

“I do!” Renzõ coughs a bit more, desperately trying to mask how enthusiastic his response was. “I do, it’s just hard to, you know…” he trails off, choosing to take another bite of his sandwich. His stomach twists in protest, but he swallows it down.

“Sorry, I just never asked if you were ok.” Yukio says. “I assumed that you being a trained spy made it easier but now I realize how foolish that is.”

Renzõ smiles bitterly, taking a sip of water. So, the bastard isn’t as heartless as he seems…

“I don’t blame you. I thought the same thing when I agreed to do this shit.”

“Huh,” Yukio’s mouth opens and closes, clearly wanting to say something but not being able to get the words out.

Renzõ frowns. “What?”

“Nothing, it’s just…” He keeps his eye glued to the plate. He shakes his head in disbelief. “You were right.”

“…what?” Renzõ’s frown deepens. “I mean I’m always right but just to be sure, what the Hell are you talking about?”

“We really are alike, you and me.” Yukio’s gaze meets Renzõ’s. “When I agreed to become an exorcist, I thought I’d stop being so… afraid.”

The pink-haired boy snorts, finishing the last bite of his breakfast. “So, you agree then? You’re just as much of a careless coward as I am?”

Yukio smiles softly, letting his metal fork fall back on the empty ceramic plate. “Yeah, I guess. I’ve been running away for so long, I think it’s time to finally stop.”

Renzõ’s head turns so fast he almost gets whiplash from it. Yukio’s smile grows – just enough to let his pair of incredibly adorable dimples show. The breath is immediately punched out of Renzõ’s lungs, and he has to reach for his orange juice glass and down all of it in one go to mask it.

“Ok, cool. That’s cool.”

The rest of the day they fulfil their respective chores around the ship, pretending everything is normal – not that there really _is_ a normal. Renzõ is an expert in that art, being an actual spy and all, and it surprised him just how good Yukio was at lying, though it was kind of expected since the guy spent an awful lot of time lying to himself and those around him.

When nightfall came, they both retired to their respective sleeping quarters – or in Renzõ’s case, pretended to. He waited until midnight, as cliché as that sounds, to sneak inside Yukio’s place. When the idea of what he was doing downed on him he blushed, hard, and it almost gave him away to one of the guards.

“Shima? What on Earth are you doing?” The guard asked as he noticed Renzõ kneeling next to a plant pot.

“Ummm on my way to get laid?” He said, putting his most charming smirk on.

“Ugh, that’s disgusting. Aren’t you just 16 years old?”

“Last time I checked normal 16-year-olds aren’t spies.” He said, shrugging while still kneeling next to the damn pot like an idiot. “Besides, I turn 17 in a couple months.”

“Be serious. What are you really doing?”

The spy sighed. “Can’t sleep. Thought I could just take a walk and stuff.”

The guard rolled his eyes. “Go back to your quarters. I won’t ask again.”

The pink-haired boy nodded. He watched the guard leave before he stood up, straightened his Illuminati-issued uniform and walked away as nonchalantly as he could. His k’rik jingled behind him, and he could feel more than hear the rumble of Yamantaka’s laugh.

Once he made sure no one was looking, he scurried down the long hallways into Yukio’s quarters. With the help of Yamantaka he was able to open the door, startling a still-awake Yukio. The tall teen reached into the white bedside table for one of his guns, pointing it at Renzõ.

“Woah, hey! It’s just me!” The pink-haired boy says, kicking the door closed while holding his arms up.

“Renzõ?! What in the Hell are you doing here?!” Yukio asked, still pointing one of the twin pistols at him.

“Could you please just stop pointing that thing at me?”

Yukio sighed, putting his gun away. “Can’t blame me for being cautious.”

“Yeah, sorry for breaking in like that.”

“Why are you here?” Yukio asked, sitting up on the bed.

Renzõ looked around the room before settling for sitting by the window next to a makeshift desk. “You said you wanted to stop running away.” He says, turning to the window behind him. “But how would you feel about one last Great Escape?”

Yukio’s eyes widen. “Are you insane?!” He whisper-shouts, scared of anyone overhearing them even though he’d been told from the start that all rooms were sound proof and that Yamantaka can tamper with the microphones the Illuminati’s got hidden inside.

“A little bit, yeah.” Renzõ keeps his eyes locked on the dark sky outside. “But now that we’ve both decided to stay away from the shady business, we need to figure our shit out. Specially since the closer the Fated Day is, the more they’re gonna have you under surveillance.”

“You’re grouping us together again.” Yukio points out. “Besides, aren’t you supposed to be my surveillance?”

“For now.” He sighed, lifting a hand to play with the slight film of condensation that covered the cold glass. “As things get closer to the end, they’re gonna start keeping us in a tighter leash, make sure we go through with it.”

“Right. Just because we know doesn’t mean they’re still not going to try and coerce us into doing what they think is best.” Yukio sighs, letting himself fall back on the bed.

Renzõ smirked. “Now _you_ ’re grouping us together.” He feels Yukio’s glare burning through his back, letting it go for a few seconds before going back into ‘serious mode’. “If they ever so much as doubt our loyalty, death will be the least of our worries.”

Yukio looks down at his hands fidgeting nervously on his lap. “Because they’ll most likely torture us into pledging loyalty.”

“Because we both know that Satan won’t let you die.” The pink-haired boy sighs, long and hard. “And there’s no way they’d let me out alive by now.”

Yukio frowns, slowly standing from his place on the bed and joining Renzõ by the window. “You said before that the reason why you didn’t have a plan was because you weren’t sure that you’d live long enough to see it through. Is that still true?”

There’s a long pause, the only sound being the constant deep, distant rumble of the aircraft. Renzõ keeps his eyes glued to the bright stars littering the dark sky in front of him while Yukio just sits there, patiently waiting for an answer.

“It’s so weird, suddenly finding a purpose again.” He finally settles with, turning his brown eyes to meet Yukio’s. “I don’t think that anymore. For once in my life I actually feel confident in the fact that things could actually work out.”

The pink-haired boy smiles softly, quickly being mirrored by Yukio. Again, those beautiful dimples make themselves known, and it melts Renzõ’s heart to the ground. His breath hitches, and Yukio must notice because the smile falters, and a spark fills his eyes.

“ _You’re_ weird,” he blurts out, immediately regretting it. A light blush quickly burns through his face, and suddenly he’s aware of the lack of lighting in the room other than the moonlight coming through the window.

“Y-yeah, so are you.”

Their eyes remain glued together for what feels like centuries, until Yukio finally clears his throat.

“So, how are we going to do this?”

Renzõ shakes himself out of his daze, nodding. “Right. Uhmmm I brought a copy of the ship’s blueprints. We could start by looking at those…”

They spend the rest of the night going through them, discussing the entire layout of the ship. A thrill takes over Yukio, heart pounding and hands sweating at the overwhelming feeling of things. After all, he’s teaming up with a spy – who used to be his student – to escape an Illuminati aircraft. He felt like a panicked bird inside a cage, and he couldn’t wait to be set free.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Has Satan been an active presence in you lately?”

Finally, an entire week later their plan is complete. They set out a complicated yet fairly secure escape route, complete with decoys to ensure that it would take a while before their escape was noticed.

That day, Renzõ wakes up a little later than usual, quickly stumbling to his boss’ office to get his daily briefing. The plan was to rush in and act all clumsy and apologetic, following the exaggerated character he’d built. Then, he’d ‘accidentally’ bump into another two or three guards, taking their key cards. And once they were dismissed to do their morning rounds around the ship, he’d gently knock the lights out for the key card owners and stuff their unconscious bodies inside a locked supply room. Renzõ was sure that they wouldn’t be actively searched for for at least three hours, which gave him time to reach Yukio’s quarters, grab breakfast and head over to their usual chill out spot only to deviate a little and reach an emergency exit at the back of the ship.

But of course, things took a different turn.

“Shima. Today I want you to lead the beta squad to escort Okumura to the main laboratory. He has to be there by 07:00 hours so I suggest you go right after this meeting is over.” Homare says, reading off her clipboard. “Any questions?”

The pink-haired boy scratches the back of his head. “Yeah, I thought they were done with his tests?”

Homare shoots him a glare. “Are you questioning the Commander’s orders?”

“No! No! I would never.” He lets out a nervous laugh. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to sound so stupid. I’ll take him, no worries.”

Homare gives him one last glare before moving on to another topic. He lets out a breath, hiding the wave of panic that takes over him.

“Alpha team will escort the Commander, and the rest of you will be on standby until you’re given more orders. Is that clear?”

The other 23 high-ranking guards nod, getting their weapons ready. Renzõ lifts his hand, waiting until Homare points at him before speaking again. “Just out of curiosity, what’s happening today? I wasn’t notified of any mayor occurances that require the Commander’s presence.”

“Only a select group of guards were notified of this beforehand. There is no need for you to know, just do as you’re told to.”

He frowns, nodding stiffly.

When the meeting is over, he gathers the beta team – which consists of three other guards, bigger and bulkier than him – and heads over to Yukio’s quarters praying for things to run smooth.

He knocks on the door, and he counts three seconds before it opens. Yukio’s fully dressed in his usual white button up, black slacks and white lab coat. He doesn’t even flinch when he’s met with four pairs of eyes.

“Lookin’ good as always.” Renzõ says, shooting Yukio a _look_. “I almost feel sorry for you having to change clothes.” He motions for one of the guards to his left to hand him over a bag containing a white hospital gown. He doesn’t break eye contact with Yukio as he gives him the bag, making sure to tap his hand with his finger three times. Once Yukio has the bag, Renzõ reaches up to rub his right eye, and with that Yukio nods and closes the door again.

So now Yukio is aware of the situation. He quickly changes his clothes, making sure to leave everything extended neatly on the bed before opening the door again.

They guide him down the long hallways, the opposite direction of his and Renzõ’s usual route. No one says a word as the doors of the main laboratory open to reveal several men and women clad in white coats standing there, waiting. The room is surprisingly cold, noisy and full to the brim with machines. It’s intimidating, to say the least, and it has Yukio hesitating before walking fully inside. Renzõ gives his arm one last, reassuring squeeze before letting go.

The spy nods at his squad, letting them climb up to an observation booth bellow the main control station where Lucifer, Homare, and another high-ranking officials stood. Renzõ stayed by the door, standing completely still with his hands clasped behind his back. He watched silently as Yukio was taken to a white, cushioned chair sitting in the middle of the eerily big room. There was a big metal tube behind the chair, plugged to a huge, loud machine at the back of the room. How can the scientists walk around without tripping on cables and such astonished him. 

“Please sit down, Okumura-kun.” The main scientist – a tall, blonde woman – says, pointing at the chair.

Yukio sits, completely expecting the restrains that automatically snapped on his ankles. He looked up at the blonde woman as he put his arms by the sides, letting the metal restrains wrap themselves around his wrists.

“What are you testing now?” He asks, keeping calm.

“Has Satan been an active presence in you lately?” The woman asks, ignoring Yukio’s question.

Yukio blinks hard once, twice, before speaking again. “…active?”

“Has he tried to reach out to you, or to anyone here in Assiah?”

“I…” He wraps his hands into tight fists, trying to keep himself from panicking. “He’s been asking me to let him _see_.”

“I see… This should work then.” The blonde woman gives him a cold, staged smile. The other scientists quickly surround him, sticking various needles into his exposed arms and legs, connecting them to several bags of IV fluids.

“W-what are you going to do to me?”

A big, noisy machine is wheeled over to his side. “We’re going to extract Satan-sama from your eye. There’s a temporal vessel ready for him to occupy, so there’s no need to worry about your father.”

Renzõ’s eyes widen as he recognizes the machine as the one that was used to force the Nine Tails spirit to possess Kamiki a few months back. Except this one looked way less threatening, which means they found a way to simplify the process. Still, this doesn’t ease the spy’s mind, remembering how painful it had been for his former classmate, but at least she’d been able to walk away from the procedure – after the spirit was appeased and sent back to her mother.

The blonde woman reaches behind her for some sort of metal helmet, long wires connecting it to the machine. She looks directly at Yukio, making sure he got a glance of the scary-looking machine. “As for you, this will not kill you. Lucifer-sama wants to keep you in case your brother isn’t being cooperative.”

Another scientist, a black-haired man, stands in front of him. “Now, let’s grant **His** wish, shall we?”

“Wait!” Yukio tries to struggle, desperately pulling on his restrains to keep them from removing his eye patch. Sadly, the restrains are too strong, and soon enough the little knot at the back of his head is undone and the two protective tapes are pulled form his eyelid. His blue-green eye shots open, and his sight is immediately drowned in blue.

Santan’s deep, rough laugh reverberates throughout the lab. Yukio flinches and grinds his teeth together in a desperate attempt to contain the demon within himself.

Meanwhile Renzõ is forced to sit back and watch with a straight face. He crossed his arms over his chest to hide his discomfort, praying for anyone who could be listening that this doesn’t end in a disaster. His heart twists in his chest, and he gets the overwhelming need to grab Yukio and get him out of there.

He pinches the inside of his arm, grounding himself. Yamantaka stays eerily silent, content to just watch and wait for orders.

As soon as the woman places the helmet on Yukio’s head, the boy stops moving. He feels hundreds of tiny needles nick his scalp, and something cold and hard presses against his eyelids. He tries to struggle again, squirm his way off the white chair, but Satan stops him from even trying.

The next few minutes go by in a blur. The sedatives on the IV fluids kick in, and he’s left feeling… odd. It’s almost like an out of body experience, being overly conscious of the needles piercing his skin and the feeling of something threatening to rip out his left eye, but the pain feels like it’s someone else’s. He wouldn’t know how to describe it to someone other than being agonizingly painful yet soft and peaceful at the same time. His heart pounds in his chest so hard he thinks he might just die of a heart attack right then and there.

Then it’s all over, and the room is completely silent for a few seconds. Then, the door to the control room slides open and Lucifer, escorted by Homare and two other guards, makes his way to Yukio’s slumped body.

“He’s alive, Commander. Just unconscious.” A scientist says, holding over an ipad with a live reading of Yukio’s vitals.

Lucifer nods, before walking over to the metal tube behind Yukio. He presses a big, red button on a panel next to it and the metal slides open, exposing a glass tube. Inside, a body appears to be floating in a bright green liquid.

The Demon King smirks, pressing a hand to the glass. “Welcome to Assiah, Father.”

The blonde scientist shuffles over, holding her clipboard tightly. “The vessel has received the transfusion smoothly. Now, we just have to wait for the serum to do its work.”

“How long will it take?” Lucifer asked, turning to the woman.

“A week, maybe more. There isn’t a way to tell, exactly. But we do know that the transfer was 100% successful.”

Lucifer nods. “You’ve done well. Make sure Father is comfortable and transfer the boy back to his quarters.”

Homare turns to look at Renzõ, who in the blink of an eye is standing by Yukio’s side. He waits for the scientists to finish unplugging the machines and taking out the needles before kneeling by Yukio’s still unconscious form.

“Any follow-up care I should know of?” He asked, keeping his eyes glued to the pale form of the brown-haired boy.

“Keep him plugged to these IV bags. Remove the needles once they’re empty and have him drink a lot of liquids once he wakes.”

The helmet is finally removed from Yukio’s head to reveal his pale face. Redness surrounds his left eye and he’s positive that in a few hours it’ll transform into a big bruise.

“Oh, I almost forgot. The serum should’ve fixed his eyesight, so please make sure to contact us as soon as the IV bags are empty so we can run a few tests on that.” And with that, the scientist leaves Yukio to tend to the other machines around them.

The beta squad appears behind him rolling a wheelchair. One of the bulkier guys reach over to try and lift Yukio’s unconscious form but Renzõ stops him.

“What? You think I can’t lift him?” The pink-haired boy says with all the cockiness he can muster.

The guard smirks. “Whatever. Just take your boyfriend and go, I heard it’s taco day at the cafeteria and I ain’t missing out on that one.”

Renzõ ignores the comment, gingerly picking Yukio up and placing him on the wheelchair. The other guards take the IV bags and hook them on a stand, strapping it to the chair. They look back at Homare, giving a brief salut before heading out.

In less than five minutes they walk across the ship to Yukio’s quarters, surprised when they open the door to find an additional bed in place of the makeshift desk in the already limited room.

“Ha! Looks like you’re stuck with him. No tacos for you then, sucker.” The guards laugh, not even bothering with setting everything up before they’re rushing out the door, slamming it behind them.

Renzõ lets out a long, deep sigh, closing his eyes for a few seconds to ground himself before setting to work. He undoes the bed’s covers, making sure it’s ready before gently placing Yukio on it. A clean robe sits on top of the new bed, as well as a bag with Renzõ’s belongings. He throws the bag on the floor on reaches for the robe, not even thinking about it as he removes the hospital gown from Yukio and carefully dresses him in the much more comfortable robe. He grabs the IV stand from the wheelchair and attaches it to the side of the bed, careful not to pull on the needles stuck in the boy’s arms. Then, he folds the chair and stuffs it into a corner by the tiny wannabe closet.

After sneaking a glance at the door and making sure the cameras and microphones are tampered, he calls for Yamantaka. The demon stirs, appearing in front of him as a tiny flame instead of his usual intimidating form.

“Can you sense anything suspicious from those IV bags?” Renzõ asks, ignoring the strain on his body as the black flames wrap themselves around his arm.

“No.” Yamantaka growls out, keeping it brief.

“Fine.” Renzõ sighs. “And Satan?”

“Not here.”

Renzõ nods to himself, dismissing the demon. He feels lightheaded but shakes it off.

Yukio remains unconscious, and now the spy realizes that his glasses were removed sometime during the whole _thing_. He frowns, not used to seeing the boy without the black frames.

Then he shakes himself, opting to unpack his bag. He hasn’t got many things, as life as a spy keeps him from hanging on to any personal belongings other than his k’rik. He grabs his personal hygiene bag and places it on the surprisingly spacious bathroom, right next to Yukio’s. His brain is still too fuzzy to process the fact that he’d now been practically forced to share room with the guy he’d been obsessing over for the past few days.

Instead, when he’s done with his bag, he decides to instruct Yamantaka to keep an eye on Yukio and inform him of any changes while he sneaks out for some breakfast.

On his way back from the cafeteria it finally hits him. He barely holds himself back from slamming his food tray against the nearest wall in frustration.

The reason why they’re being held together is because that way it’s easier to keep an eye on them. They must be really suspicious of them and their relationship. Renzõ knew this would happen, but he’d been thinking so much of them being separated that he didn’t stop himself to question what would happen if they were slumped together.

But there’s nothing they can do about it now except think of next steps. As a spy Renzõ is used to working under pressure, but somehow this is far beyond what he’s already been through. He takes a deep breath, remembering that Yukio is still unconscious in his – _their_ – room.

Shuffling back inside he’s not surprised to see Yukio in the same position he’d left him. He sighs, knowing that it’d take a while for him to wake up.

And now he’s stuck here, basically alone with his own thoughts, and he can’t help but feel like Yukio wasn’t the only one being tortured today – though, of course this doesn’t compare _at all_ with having Satan ripped out from your eyeball.

He looks around the room, and immediately spots a stack of books. With a shrug, he grabs the first tome he can find – something about Earth demon botanics – and gets comfortable on his new bed.


	5. Chapter 5

Three hours later, Yukio finally starts stirring. Renzõ practically jumps out of his bed and is kneeling by Yukio’s side in a second. A big purple bruise had formed around his left eye, though thankfully it’s not as swollen as Renzõ had expected. He gently grabs onto Yukio’s forearm, giving him a light squeeze.

“Yukio?” His voice is barely a whisper, but it’s loud enough to be heard over the aircraft’s rumble.

Yukio groans, slowly opening his eyes. He squints against the bright lights of the room, and once his eyes start to focus, a lot of things hit him all at once. First of all, both his eyes are open, and he doesn’t feel the familiar itch behind his left eye that used to drive him crazy. Second, he’s back in his ‘resting quarters’, laying on his bed hooked up to at least three IV bags. He groans, attempting to sit up even when his whole body screams with residual pain.

“Hey, take it easy.” Renzõ’s voice breaks through the haze in his mind. He feels the boy’s hands on him, helping him sit up and lean back on the cold metal wall behind him. His blue-green eyes finally meet the worried brown eyes of the spy. “How’re you feeling?”

Yukio groans again, leaning his head back against the wall. “Awful.”

Renzõ eyes him, specifically his left eye. Even though Yamantaka already confirmed it, he needs to hear it from Yukio himself. “…and Satan?”

Yukio’s shaking hand reaches over to brush over his left eyelid, and he flinches at the feeling against his tender, bruised skin. He stays silent for a second, searching for the demon’s familiar presence, hesitantly calling out for him in his mind.

…but he gets no response.

He lets out a relieved sigh, and all the tension that had built up on his joints over the years finally leaves him. A smile takes over his face, one that hasn’t been there since he was a little kid.

“He’s gone.”

Renzõ smiles back. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah,” Yukio looks up at the ceiling before letting his eyes fall close. “I’m free.”

“ _Fuck_.” Renzõ laughs, ghosting a hand over his face. “Shit! This is great! Are you hungry? Or would you rather sleep some more?” Renzõ asks, still kneeling by the guy’s side.

Yukio sighs. “I’m starving.”

Renzõ feels like he physically can’t stop smiling, as does Yukio, but he has to stop before the cameras pick up on it. “Fine, I’ll go get something from the cafeteria. You stay here and rest.”

“Wait,” Yukio frowns, looking around the room. “Why are you here? And why is there an extra bed…?” His frown quickly dissolves as his eyebrows threaten to reach is hairline. “Oh, no.”

“Yeah, they kind of made me your nurse-maid.” Renzõ scratched at the back of his head, turning wide eyes to Yukio. “Which means we’re both stuck here for who knows how long.”

Yukio closes his eyes and leans his head back in defeat. “ **Fuck.** ”

The pink-haired boy can feel a tiny smile return. “It’s weird, hearing you curse so much.”

Yukio opens his eyes for a brief second just to roll them with annoyance.

“Uh, ok. I guess I’ll go to the cafeteria. Any requests or…?”

“Surprise me.” Yukio says, not bothering to look at him.

“Ok, sure. I’ll be back.” Like a kick to the teeth, a thought suddenly hits him. “I’ll leave you my k’rik. It’s kinda annoying to have it jingling behind me all the time and I’m only going to the cafeteria.”

As soon as he closes the door behind him, Renzõ quickly makes his way down the luckily empty hallways, deciding to take a quick detour before going to the cafeteria. He reaches a supply closet and checks no one is inside before walking in. Without turning on the lights, he searches blindingly until he finds the loose floorboards under some steel shelves. Carefully, without making any sounds, he reaches under the floorboards for a bundle of fabric carelessly tossed inside. He takes off his military grade boots, tossing them under the floorboards and quickly fixing everything, including dust patches covering the place so that no one could suspect him before putting on the newly acquired cloak and sneaking back outside.

Silently he makes his way up north in the direction of the labs. The cloak keeps him invisible to anyone, human or demon, which is incredibly useful when he’s out to overhear important conversations such as this one. Once he reaches the main laboratory, he waits for a scientist to walk in to sneak inside right behind them.

There’s only a handful of scientists and researchers inside, which surprises the spy. He looks around at the machines, taking special note at the paperwork displayed in front of them.

There are a few close calls where he almost crashes against another person or trips over the insane amount of cables on the floor, but eventually he reaches the metal tank containing none other than Satan’s newest vessel. Most of the people’s attention is centred on the slightly twitching figure floating in the radioactive green liquid.

He looks around and finds a decently sized folder lying on top of a messy makeshift desk and waits until someone walks right next to it to quickly grab it, hiding it under the cloak. According to his calculations based on his knowledge of the positioning of the cameras, no one will suspect a thing.

He looks around a little longer before standing by the door, waiting for another scientist to leave and scurrying out right behind them.

He quickly runs back down the hallways to the supply closet. Once inside he checks his wristwatch. That took 5.43 minutes, less than he’d expected. He quickly hides the cloak back under the floorboards and gets his boots back on, leaving everything as it was. He fixes the last details of his uniform before hiding the folder under his jacket and sneaking back out.

He acts as nonchalantly as he usually does on his way down to the cafeteria, resting his arms up behind his head and whistling a simple melody.

He gets some odd looks as he carries another tray back to the east side of the aircraft where the living quarters are set, but he ignores them, sending winks and smirks at every woman he comes across. That gets some attention off of him and he’s able to return to Yukio with a pile of all types of food.

“What did you get?” Yukio asks, eyeing the tray.

“Oh, you know,” he quickly sends a mental order to Yamantaka before continuing. “Can’t get that stomach of yours too upset so I got mainly Italian and some French.” He sets the tray on a little table by the corner and drags it to a corner of the room. “Oh! And also, I know how much you enjoy top secret files, so I brought you some of those too.” He reaches into his waistband and pulls out the folder, tossing it on his bed.

“What?!” Yukio sits up, flinching as a wave of pain hits him.

“Woah, dude, take it easy.” He reaches over, pulling the covers off of Yukio before helping him up and to one of the two chairs next to the little table. “I kinda got side-tracked and ended up in the main lab. I thought, ‘ _damn_ , Yukio’s gonna get mad at me for being out for so long. I should get him something nice so he can forgive me.’ And so, I did. I only flipped through it before, but it looks like it’s got some useful stuff in it.”

“Let me read it.” Yukio says, eyes completely wide. Renzõ grabs the folder and hands it to him, dragging the other chair next to Yukio’s and leaning over to see the documents.

The first page is a rundown of Yukio’s tests, including bloodwork and physical examinations. All have the same conclusions, pointing out his good health despite how tainted with demonic influence he is. It follows with how this affects him, highlighting his unusual resistance to all kinds of flames.

Then there’s a brain scan that was performed just a week ago, that only mentions how the results turned out inconclusive. Yukio frowns at this, searching for more papers but it turns out to be the last one regarding him. The next one talks about a copy of his DNA, how there were things they could change and improve, pointing out things that contributed to Satan being able to use him as an interdimensional portal, all leading to-

“ **What the fuck!** ” Renzõ exclaims, taking the folder from Yukio. The other doesn’t protest, too shocked to do anything really other than _think._

“They made a _clone_ of me.”

“… _shit_.” Renzõ sighs, reaching up to rub at his eyes trying to sooth the incoming headache. “I thought it was another one of Lucifer’s clones, I- I can’t believe I didn’t make the connection before.”

Yukio sighs. “It makes sense, they wanted a temporal vessel for Satan. One that won’t complain or- or _hesitate_.”

“One they can **control**.” Renzõ finishes for him, giving him the folder back.

They stay silent for a few seconds, processing it all. Then, all of a sudden, Yukio starts laughing. It starts with a quiet chuckle, but it quickly evolves into an outright loud laugh. Renzõ looks at him with a mix of concerned fear and amusement.

“…are you ok?” He asks, placing a hesitant hand on the guy’s shoulder.

“Yeah, yeah.” Yukio takes a deep breath, feeling the burn on his chest. “Man, everything hurts so fucking much, I can’t feel half of my face, _fuck_ I even **shot** my brother in the face just about a month ago!” He chuckles again, feeling the pain ricochet to his head. “I just- I’ve done so many fucked up things all my life, and it was all because I had fucking Satan riding shotgun in my head!” He turns to Renzõ, smiling. “But he’s gone now.”

The brown-haired boy looks down at his lap, looking at a picture of his clone in the metal tube. “I’m actually free!”

Renzõ mirrors his smile, squeezing his shoulder. “Yeah… Bet you didn’t even notice that you don’t need your glasses anymore.”

Yukio’s eyes widen, as does his smile, and Renzõ watches intently as those little dimples appear on the boy’s face at full force, threatening the spy’s carefully crafted sanity. The thing that had blossomed in his chest all those months ago is now overwhelming him.

“I must say, I like you better without them,” Renzõ blurts out. A blush immediately takes over his face. He clears his throat and buries his face back on the papers, pretending to be lucid enough to understand what they say.

Meanwhile Yukio finds himself short of breath. He swears he’s never seen this kind of sparkle in those deep caramel eyes. He’s always admired the way Renzõ managed to keep a light spark on his eyes even when he could practically feel the vibrations of Yamantaka’s power coursing through the boy’s veins. He’d always felt something whenever they crossed paths since the very start, and he’d wondered if it was some kind of sixth sense that came with the mashou he’d been born with. But now, looking at him under the pale white moonlight…

“Now we just have to wait until you’re back to normal so we can leave this god forsaken place.” Renzõ continues speaking, feeling like he’s running on autopilot. “We need to make sure you can handle it… I’d die if anything happens to you.”

Yukio doesn’t even notice as he takes hold of Renzõ’s forearm. “Well, yeah, Lucifer still needs me alive. He’d have you killed if anything were to happen to me.”

“No, it’s not that…” Renzõ’s lungs burn with lack of oxygen. He puts the folder aside, keeping his eyes glued to the ground.

“Oh,” Yukio frowns. “What _do_ you mean, then?”

A wave of braveness takes over Renzõ, and he looks up to meet Yukio’s green-blue eyes. He leans forward a few inches, testing the waters. The other boy keeps the eye contact, and Renzõ swears he sees him lean forward just a tiny bit; that settles it. “I-” He cuts himself off, taking a single deep breath before slowly, carefully, brushing his lips against the taller boy’s.

Yukio remains frozen in place for a few seconds. He definitely did **not** expect this, the possibility never even coming near his mind, much less in the situation they both found themselves in. But there’s no denying the warm, blissful feeling that threatens to overwhelm him as he softly, almost hesitantly, reaches out to him. He gingerly sets his hands at the sides of the other boy’s face and neck, scared to do something to scare Renzõ away. The position is awkward, and the lingering pain keeps Yukio from moving much.

Renzõ notices this, and as painful as it is, he gently pulls away.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

Yukio opens his mouth, trying to find his breath. “Y-you didn’t. You didn’t.”

Renzõ eyes him before dropping from the chair onto his knees and without breaking eye contact with Yukio, he takes another deep breath and reconnects their lips. This time, Yukio doesn’t hesitate, allowing his hands to bury themselves in soft pink locks. They’re even softer than Yukio had imagined, and a soft, content sigh leaves him. Renzõ’s hands desperately grasp onto the soft cotton fabric of Yukio’s robe at his sides, his knuckles bumping softly onto Yukio’s ribs.

Warmth envelops the two of them as the Dominus Luminis soars the skies, leaving only the moon and a few thousand stars as their witnesses.

Eventually, the need for oxygen tears them apart, allowing less than a few inches to rest between them. The sounds of their pounding hearts and soft, desperate intakes of breath drown the room. Their eyes grasp each other like a lifeline, and its only when full realization of what just happened downs on them that the smiles return to their lips.

Renzõ arches an eyebrow, morphing his smile into a smug smirk. “Can’t believe I just had my first kiss with my former sensei.”

Yukio returns the smirk. “Wasn’t the transvestite spirit your first kiss?”

Renzõ shivers at the reminder. “It doesn’t count. He barely even touched my lips with his. Nothing like what we just did.”

“I’d sure hope so.”

The pink haired boy rolls his eyes fondly before reconnecting their lips, this time letting the touches linger a little longer.

Many minutes go by until Renzõ finally remembers the full tray of now cold food still waiting for them.

“ _Shit_ , the food,” he whispers onto Yukio’s lips.

Yukio throws his head back and laughs, gasping as pain flares on his head.

“Hey, you ok?” Renzõ immediately asks, still kneeling in front of the boy.

“Yeah, it doesn’t hurt too bad.” Yukio says, biting the inside of his mouth to hide it.

Renzõ just looks at him with pleading eyes. “You don’t have to hide anything from me, you know that, right?”

Yukio sighs, closing his eyes. “Yeah, sorry. Force of habit.”

The pink-haired boy eyes him a little longer before nodding. “Ok.” He stands up, looking over at the cold, forgotten food.

“Good thing I’m flaming hot.” Renzõ says, throwing Yukio a smirk and a wink before summoning Yamantaka in a tiny flame.

Yukio rolls his eyes and watches as the flame envelops the food, heating it up.

“Well, nii-san did say that reheated food is better than fresh.” Yukio says, a tinge of sadness dampening his bright green-blue eyes.

“Hey,” Renzõ looks down at him. “No. You’re not allowed to be sad today, ok?” He holds eye contact with him, trying to say something along the lines of ‘I understand why you’re sad, but sulking won’t fix anything’.

Yukio sighs, long and hard for what feels like the millionth time that day before letting a tiny smile crawl back onto his face. “Fine. Let’s eat.”

The rest of the day they spend it hauled up in the room, eating, talking, and maybe even kissing some more. Exhaustion finally gets the better of Yukio, though, and he falls asleep right when the sky outside starts turning pretty shades of pink, orange and red. Renzõ watches the lights paint the boy’s face, feeling his heart threaten to burst from his chest. His lips tingle, and the image of those little dimples engraves itself onto the backs of his eyelids as he lies down, ready to let sleep take over him. 


End file.
